Congratulations to Kim Moyes and Julian Hamilton off-of The Presets for picking up the best awards on offer at tonight’s ARIAs (the Aussie equivalent of The Brits or The Grammy’s.) Best Group, Best Dance Release, and the big one; Album Of The Year. The cheers and shrieks of joy at the ARIAs party I attended this evening when that announcement was made were deafening. We were all so, so proud.

I interviewed Julian some time ago. If you didn’t read it when I originally posted it, maybe now that he’s an ARIA award winning artist, you might want to…

Congrats also to Modular, the boys’ record label, also for the wins and for bringing such pop art as The Presets into our lives all those years ago.

As for the rest of the awards, it was all very bland. Aside from show-stopping performances from The Presets (now THAT’S an on stage costume!) and P!NK (kudos to Sam Sparro as well for a pitch-perfect “Black & Gold” – though I’m not entirely sure his outfit would pass the Roisin Murphy fashion checklist and — as the lovely Phil at Worra said some time ago – it was very ‘My First Stage Costume’ in appearance), the rest of the ceremony was pretty much about Gabriella Cilmi, who won all six of the awards she was nominated for.

I’m slightly baffled, I won’t lie.

You all know how I feel about “Sweet About Me” and there were better nominees in each of the categories she was up in. She did thank Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper though, which was nice. I would like to know if she was insanely drunk (a no-no seeing as she’s only 17) or just a bit of a mess when it comes to public speaking? Each speech she gave was squirm-in-your-seat worthy. So much so, each time she would win a gong, the smokers at the party I was at would clutch onto their cigarette packets and head outside for a quick fag.

I was quite pleased to see Axle Whitehead return to the ARIAs, and also to hear around 3 seconds of Van She’s “Kelly” during the introduction of one of the presenters. That was nice!

Full list of winners here.

Phwoar.

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That’s a full stream of my interview from last week with Axle Whitehead. In the interview we discuss his upcoming album, taking time off, why Avril Lavigne is a cunt, stripping off for the gays and – the topic I enjoyed the ‘moist’ (DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!) – his cock ‘n balls.

You can also download – via RapidShare – the interview if you wish. Link here.

Axle’s brilliant debut single, “I Don’t Do Surprises,” is released this Saturday the 8th of March. You should definitely buy it from either iTunes, Sanity, or one of those novel record stores (!) in your nearby shopping mall.  You can also buy the very-nice-on-the-eyes video clip, again over at iTunes.

Oh, hello there… 

Phwoar.

As the Summer (or winter, depending on where you are geographically) season draws to a close, we inch closer and closer into the third month of 2008; it’s already going by so quickly.  It feels like just yesterday I was seeing in the New Year when in actual fact it was 55 days ago… oi vey!

I haven’t really popped up any sort of list containing the songs that have, thus far in, tickled my musical fancy, so I thought now was as good a time as ever.  In chart form, here are the 10 best songs 2008 – whether they be singles or album tracks – has brought us so far.

01.       Van She – Strangers
02.       Van She – Changes
03.       Axle Whitehead – I Don’t Do Surprises
04.       Róisín Murphy – You Know Me Better
05.       Pigeon Detectives – I’m Not Sorry
06.       Cut Copy – Lights & Music
07.       Ashlee Simpson – Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)
08.       Sam Sparro – Black & Gold
09.       Goldfrapp – Caravan Girl
10.       Duffy – Rockferry 

I cannot wait for people to hear Van She’s “Strangers” because it is so sublime.  The synths during the chorus are magnetic and fierce.  “Changes” is just as ace and is also single material (and now that I’ve realised how similar the words “strangers” and “changes” sound when said over the phone, I’m back to being unsure as to which of the two songs are going to be the NEXT Van She single. Boo!) – sounded exxxxcellent live on the weekend and the boys told me it was their favourite track from the new record.

Axle’s debut “I Don’t Do Surprises” still impresses me, as does the man himself.  I spoke to him on Friday afternoon and the interview will be online later this week; went really well and he was incredibly charming.  Miss Murphy’s “You Know Me Better” somehow manages to become a stronger song the more I listen to it; and I already loved it immensely.  I’m aware that the Pigeon Detectives song in my list was released in 2006 and then again last year, but I’ve only just discovered the guys in the last 2 months and that song is so brilliant, I just couldn’t leave it off.

Cut Copy’s new single is a delicious taste of what’s to come from their hotly anticipated sophomore album, and Ashlee Simpson’s bonkers “Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)” sounds like a stripped down homage to Madonna’s “Burning Up.”  I love it!  Both Sam Sparro’s “Black & Gold” and Duffy’s “Rockferry” were introduced to me by the lovely xolondon, who has just written a stellar review of the new Goldfrapp album, which the track “Caravan Girl” comes from.

Anyway, what are your favourite tracks of the year so far?

Here are numbers 11 – 20…

11.       Goldfrapp – A&E
12.       Van She – Talkin’
13.       Girls Aloud – Can’t Speak French (Jeremy Wheatley Radio Edit)
14.       Kylie Minogue – Carried Away
15.       Courtney Love – Never Go Hungry Again
16.       Duffy – Mercy
17.       Courtney Love – Happy Ending Story
18.       Lykke Li – Little Bit
19.       Utah Saints – Something Good ‘08 (Van She Radio Edit)
20.       Rihanna & Klaxons – Umbrella (Live @ The BRIT Awards)

WOULDN’T YOU JUST?

So on Friday afternoon I’ll be chatting to the seriously delicious Axle Whitehead about his aces new single “I Don’t Do Surprises,” and no doubt covering the whole cock-flashing thing. Sadly, it’s not an in-studio interview and I can’t ask for a personal demonstration, but I’m sure he’ll make it down to Geelong sometime in the near future.

Was just wondering if any of you lot had a question you’d like me to ask of Mr. Whitehead? Email or pop the question in the comments field. The best will brought up on Friday afternoon and, more than likely, a couple of the worst too.

Oh, and his clip is finally on YouTube for those who couldn’t view it on the Hot Hits website.

.

I was going to talk about this last week when I first heard the song but, you know, shit I couldn’t cope with went down and life went on hiatus for a bit. But now that I’m on the mend, it’s time to discuss The Second Truly Great Song Of 2008; Axle Whitehead’s “I Don’t Do Surprises.”

Aussie readers will know Axle from Australian Idol, Video Hits and The ARIA Awards. Those who know the story behind Axle’s appearance at the ARIA Awards a couple of years ago will probably chuckle at the song title of his new single… and something tells me he probably is as well. I’ve always been a fan of Axle, from his days on Australian Idol to catching the last 10 minutes of him hosting Video Hits once I’d woken up on a Saturday/Sunday morning. He’s funny, is incredibly charming, is very nice to look at and has the all the makings of a proper pop star. So it’s nice to see this is where his focus is in 2008.

“I Don’t Do Surprises” is essentially a Coldplay Pop Song Without The Hindrance Of It Actually Being A Coldplay Song And Needing A Remix To Be Listenable – ie: Very, Very Good Indeed. The verses are just a small taste to the brilliance of a completely sublime chorus, which blew my technically in-tune socks off when I first heard it. The video clip is cute as well, with Axle looking as fiercely handsome/sexy/etcetera as ever, and comes complete with pixelated bodies, people with torches, and a postal package delivered to Whitehead by a real-life child. Already a more enjoyable Mise-En-Scène than that found in a Young Divas clip, not quite as good as the Mise-En-Scène found in a Van She one. Could this be the very first artist with an Australian Idol connection whose video clip isn’t an actual crock of shit? Yes Marcia, I’m talking to you too; I said connection.

You can listen to the song over on Axle’s MySpace page. You can view the video by clicking here and, while you’re there, scroll down to the bottom of the page, in between Numbers #33 and #34. You’ll see Axle’s name and the song title; click on the red button which says “VOTE,” thus helping its chances of getting the track higher in that Hot Hits chart show Jackie No helps co-assault Australia with on what I believe is still a nightly basis.

Unsure of when the single officially drops, but I’ll keep you informed. Cannot *wait* for his album to hit shelves now. Interestingly, this Axle news officially makes the two albums I’m most looking forward to hearing in 2008 records performed by Australian artists (Van She and Axle.) I have a very good feeling about Aussie Pop Music this year… Regular readers of the column I write in Forte Magazine should expect a “I Don’t Do Surprises” gushfest next fortnight.

Will be playing the track on the radio show come Friday night too for those keen on hearing it via the FM waves.

For those of you who are interested in seeing the exact moment Axle took the, er, axe to his Television career at last weeks ARIA Awards, here’s a YouTube clip of it. Bear in mind that the YouTube quality is extremely shithouse. It turns out that Channel [V] played the original, unedited version of the ARIA’s when they screened it last week, hence where this video has come from. If anyone has a recorded on VHS or DVD (in decent to great quality) version of said video, I will pay you $10 and throw in a CD, maybe even 2. For our International readers, unaware of what this is all about, have a read here.

I still love him, even if he is a bit of a knob.

Boom. Tish.

Also, Dominic Knight over at the Radar Blog for Fairfax has written a rather hilarious piece on the whole saga, entitled “Axle Whitehead: Aussie Legend”. Knight cites that “We should be thankful for his actions: if it wasn’t for his antics, the big story of the ARIAs would have been Bernard Fanning.” Surely the only thing missing from that sentence was the “Fucking” in between ‘Bernard’ and ‘Fanning’.

I am such an asshole.

Whilst having an absolute fit of hysteria with html coding on the website links page, I noticed that I indeed have been a cunt of the highest order and not included a couple of grand sites.

First of all, there is the genius Clem Bastow and her tremendous blog, Lightning Struck Itself. Currently, Clem is trying to decide as to whether she wishes to pursue a career in Air Traffic Control and becoming a sex therapist, amongst other things. She also just happens to be one of the best street press journo’s in this country, which obviously means her blog is like a top shelf spirit – ie: VERY GOOD INDEED.

Then, the absolutely wondrous Popalastic.com – based in Australia and full of well written Oz-related pop music intel. It is very good, I have loved it for months, but thanks to the last remains of my frazzled brain only working on the odd occasion, I somehow forgot to add the link to the site when I tizzed it up.

And finally, here is the amazing and downright SPECTACULAR XO’s Middle Eight, which is probably one of the most interesting websites you will ever head on over to. Xolondon, who runs this fabulous blog, is also a big fan of coloured text, which I completely approve of. I must say though, I’m not as much of a prick for not placing this site up on the links page as I am with Popalastic – I only discovered XO’s marvelous place on the web last week. I believe the relaunch may have happened prior to that week. So there is an excuse for that, but, again, not one of decent explanation for failing to add the ‘lastic.

Thank heavens then that I have now updated the links page. All three of these magnificent sites are now ‘live’ in said section.

NOW. The pretty picture of Axle Whitehead is there for a reason. After inspecting this weekends Video Hits on Channel 10, it was nice to see that Axle’s role as a music television host has somewhat improved. Greatly. Which of course makes it much easier to find him attractive, does it not? Yes, he started off as a bit of a wanker, but my god, somewhere between a few weeks ago and Sunday morning, he actually turned into a proper host. One that looks like he now knows what he’s doing! When did this happen? Overnight? I can’t think of any other explanation. THIS NEW FOUND AXLE LOVE HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REALLY NICE DREAM I HAD WITH HIM IN IT THE OTHER NIGHT. NOTING AT ALL.

Before any of you get ready to fire up the comments with “Adem IAR, you have actually lost the fucking plot, haven’t you?”, WAIT TILL YOU HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY NEXT.

Kyle Sandilands, judge on Australian Idol. His comments so far this season on the show have – I’d hate to say it – not only been funny, but on the mark pretty much every time. I’m fairly certain he has the same idea going through his head as we all do: “Please, no more ugly Idols.”

In the space of two nights, Kyle has managed to spit forth some of the greatest insults seen in the shows history. Let’s take a look at a couple of the highlights:

“You look like a snake that’s just eaten a goat.”

“You really need to shave those pubes off your head.”

“Just bear in mind that this is not Catholic Idol.”

If he ever says “you’re a bit shit, aren’t you?”, then I will probably hail him a national hero.

It makes you wonder why he’s still with Tamara Jabber though, doesn’t it? Maybe she has a lovely personality. Or maybe he finally put that mouth of hers to some good use.